School Farms Network

There are now more than 116 School Farms in the UK. FCFCG helped set up and co-ordinates the School Farms Network, which offers support and assistance to school farms and facilitates the exchange of ideas and information, including peer teacher support.

In addition, an e-newsletter is regularly dispatched to members to keep them up to date and this webpage is updated with useful information including contact details.

NB: A number of school farms are members of FCFCG. It is free to join, just click on the following link and fill in the online form: Join Now

Latest News

Regional Meetings

Bookings are now open for the School Farms Network Education Alliance (SFNEA) Regional Meetings in Kent/South East and the Midlands. Places are FREE!

The events will aim to bring together those working with and on school farms to develop mutually beneficial relationships, share best practice and explore education pathways and careers in the land-based sector. The meeting will focus on practical topics to address ideas and research sharing, partnership development and school farm development, as driven by the needs School Farms Network members. Spaces will be limited, so Book your place at a Regional Event today!

Contacts: Help and Advice

Geoff Carr, Chipping Campden School, is the chair of SFN and has offered to help answer questions and discuss issues with individual school farm staff who contact them, along with Ian Egginton-Metters who is available to answer or signpost enquiries and pursue opportunities to help develop the Network, hands-on farming and horticultural education in schools. If you have any general enquiries about SFN or FCFCG then please contact Carmel Ferguson.

Please leave your name, name of school and telephone number when making contact.

Conference 2017

The School Farms Network Education Alliance (SFNEA) conference 2017 took place on 30 June to 1 July, hosted by the Royal Agricultural University at its Cirencester campus.

The conference was a great success, providing a focal point for the revival of interest in school based farming and the crucial roles school farms have in supporting the development of an holistic education approach. The conference, part of an alliance between the Royal Agricultural University, the School Farms Network and education specialists Applied Inspiration. A news story about the conference and keynote speaker Adam Henson, plus other information is available via the following link:

Reports & Evidence

School Farms Research Document: The Living Classroom
A research document called The Living Classroom - School Farms in the UK: A mapping document is now available to download here: School Farms Research Survey

Improving the quality of student learning through school farms
This is the report of a project to build joint understanding of how school farms might improve the experience of young people’s learning. It is a partnership between the School Farms Network (SFN) and the Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University. The document (11MB) is available to download using following link: Improving Student Learning Through School Farms Report

Project Demonstrates Value of Outdoor Classroom
A Natural England-funded project to demonstrate the enormous benefits of outdoor learning to children and develop a model(s) of using ‘hub’ schools to support and deliver teacher training, is now available. The project, which is funded by Natural England, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Historic England and delivered by Plymouth University, is the largest project of its kind in England and has already helped more than 40,000 primary and secondary school pupils get out of their classrooms and into the outdoors – whether that’s a maths lesson in a local park or drama out on the school field. Read more at https://www.farmgarden.org.uk/news/new-project-demonstrates-benefits-out...

School Farms Network - A Short History

From a low point in 2006, when there were only 66 school farms, the UK now has more than 116 school farms and a number of schools actively engaged in starting a new one. They are situated throughout the UK but with particular concentration in South East England and the West Midlands. Developing a formal support structure for them has been an objective for some time, and an initial meeting of school farm practitioners was convened in 2004 at Oathall Community College in Haywards Health, West Sussex, to look at the ways in which this could be taken forward.

HRH The Prince of Wales sent a letter of support for the event and emerging network, in which he said: "I could not be more pleased to be supporting this conference to promote school farms and gardens as centres of excellence and to serve as a resource to enrich and enhance the curriculum". The Prince has a particular interest in the education of children about farming and growing and has himself visited several school farms in the past. As a result of this drive, the School Farms Network (SFN) was set up in 2004 and offers support and assistance to school farms, co-ordinates meetings, produces materials and CPD and facilitates networking.

FCFCG is responsible for co-ordinating the School Farms Network. It offers advice to existing farms and those wishing to start a new school farm (teachers, assistants and parents), including finding a mentor and signposting to specialists. Geoff Carr is Chair of the School Farms Network. He runs the school farm and is is an Advanced Science Teacher (AST) at Chipping Campden School in Gloucestershire. Find out more about the farm on the Rural Dimension page of the school's website.

Network meetings

These meetings are an excellent opportunity for school farm staff and volunteers to swap ideas, gain inspiration from the work of their colleagues and discuss how to stimulate understanding and support for school farms.

Events

Find out about the range of training events we run or recommend for community growers across the UK